Temporal Exploring 101 - Branch Cut

V.6 The beauty of Riemann surfaces and the allure of witchcraft

The next day was a Friday and the last school day before half term break. Natty, Nancy, Liz, Mallory and I were going to be picked up by Lord Kerrington's chauffeur at half past five in the afternoon.

The minutes and hours of the morning and afternoon lessons appeared to pass much more slowly than usual, at least that was how it seemed to me.

I had all but forgotten about my appointment with the Headmistress at five o'clock sharp. I had packed a bag of my clothes and other necessary utensils for nine days and was debating on whether or not I ought to include the ansible when Natty reminded me of it.

"You better hurry, you don't want to be late for that," she cautioned.

Being late was definitely not a good option here, so I took my roommate's advice and briskly walked over to Laura Stuart's office.

"Come in," the Head called in response to my knock on the heavy oaken door.

With some trepidation I entered her office, closed the door behind me and turned to face the headmistress of our school.

"Hart." The Head got up from the chair behind her desk. For a moment or two, she studied me, possibly checking for some sort of a minor uniform violation. When she found nothing obvious to object to in my appearance, she cleared her throat.

"Last night at the secretary's office, you demonstrated story-telling skills equal to those of your classmate Carmichael," she observed.

As compliments went, this one was poisoned. If it was meant as a compliment in the first place, which I strongly doubted.

"Needless to say, I do not believe a word of what you told us, and neither does Ms Bale. What's more, the secretary is certain that she properly locked the office when she left it yesterday. This would imply that you broke into the secretary's office, Hart." The Head fixed me with an icy look. "You have had a night to sleep over this and almost an entire day to reconsider. I am asking you one more time, Hart: did you break into the secretary's office, and what were looking for there?"

"The door was unlocked, Miss. I was looking for my pencil case."

Headmistress Stuart raised one eyebrow at that, as if to say, 'Have it your way, girl'.

Of course, she did not deign to actually utter those or similar words. Instead, she opened a drawer of her desk to retrieve a certain left shoe. A plimsoll, to be specific.

I gulped.

I had made the acquaintance of that particular plimsoll on previous occasions. Or rather, my rear had become acquainted with the sole of that plimsoll.

If the Head was aware of my growing discomfort, she did nothing to acknowledge it.

"Bend over the desk and bare your bottom, girl," she ordered.

There was nothing for me to do but to comply.

When I returned to my room, a good fifteen minutes later, I took a moment to roll down my panties and inspect my backside in the mirror. My butt cheeks were bright red. Shrugging, I readjusted my knickers and grabbed my bag.

The huge limousine was already waiting in front of the school building, Natty, Mallory, Nancy and her sister were sitting on bench seat in the back of the car.

"Miss Catherine, how are you?" Lord Kerrington's chauffeur James greeted me,as he took my bag and heaved it into the luggage compartment.

"I am fine, thank you, James." It still felt odd to me to address the man by his first name.

Natty made room for me on the back seat as I got into the car.

I lowered my rear onto the leather upholstery and winced.